Milo

Jeremiah

MAY 29

Reading 149

MAN WITH A MISSION Jeremiah 1

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5).Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet. He was called by God to suffer with a people destined for judgment, who persistently rejected the prophet and his message. We may yearn to be commissioned by the Lord for some vital ministry. But Jeremiah reminds us that the spiritually prominent have a price to pay.

Overview

Jeremiah was commissioned to communicate the word of the Lord at a critical time in Judah’s history. This chapter reports his call, and provides the key to understanding both the pressures on God’s servant and the promises that sustained him.

Understanding the Text

“Through the reign” Jer. 1:1–3.

The first verses of Jeremiah specify the kings during whose reigns the prophet cried out to God’s people. Jeremiah’s call came during the reign of godly King Josiah, in 627B.C, and the first 10 chapters of this book record messages given during the Josian revival. Chapters 21–39 record messages given during the reigns of evil rulers, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. In 587B.C Jeremiah was imprisoned for treason, and chapters 40–52 report the culminating events of his life—and of Jerusalem’s fall. Here is a brief chronology of the tumultuous times during which this prophet lived and ministered. 686     Wicked Manasseh rules 648     Josiah born 642     Amon succeeds Manasseh 640     Josiah succeeds Amnon 633     Josiah turns to the Lord Ashurbanipal of Assyria dies 628     Josiah begins reforms Jeremiah begins ministry 626     Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylon 621     Book of Law found in the temple 612     Nineveh, Assyrian capital, taken by the Babylonians 609     Josiah killed in battle Jehoahaz rules three months Jehoiakim placed on throne by Egyptians 605     Egyptians defeated by Babylonians Nebuchadnezzar becomes king of Babylon First Jewish captives deported to Babylon. The group includes Daniel 601     Babylon invades Egypt, is thrown back 598     Jehoiachin becomes king in Judah, but is taken to Babylon in April of 597 597     Zedekiah becomes king in Judah 588     Babylonians begin siege of Jerusalem, on January 15th 586     Jerusalem falls on August 14th. The final deportation takes place The Babylonian governor of Judah is assassinated October 7 The remaining Jews reject Jeremiah’s counsel and flee to Egypt During such times, the Word of God is most desperately needed. But that word, delivered by God’s spokesman Jeremiah, was consistently rejected by Jewish people and their rulers, despite the fact that their world was crumbling around them. We need to be especially sensitive to God’s Word in our own times of stress, even if what we hear condemns our attitudes and challenges our values. Ultimately, God’s Word is intended not to destroy but to heal. “I formed you in the womb” Jer. 1:5. These words to Jeremiah remind us that God is deeply involved in the formation of every human being from conception. On the one hand this is a great comfort. God knew you and me as individuals before we were born. He knew us, loved us, and participated in every stage of our development. The gifts and talents you have were carefully nurtured, even as you developed in embryo. This means that you and I can be glad in who we are. We are the persons that God intended us to be. The abilities we have are His gifts, and He can use you and me to His glory. On the other hand, this verse offers us a challenge. Many are confused by the rhetoric of moderns who place no value on the human fetus, dismissing the unborn as some insignificant part of a mother’s body, as easily discarded as hair that is too long or a broken fingernail. God’s words to Jeremiah, “I formed you in the womb,” confront us with the fact that the unborn child is a separate, individual person, precious to God and with full rights as a separate human being. Perhaps Jeremiah’s example of commitment to an unpopular cause, despite ridicule and abuse from his society, may encourage us to stand with God for, rather than against, the unborn. “I am only a child” Jer. 1:6–8. When God called Jeremiah as a young man in his early 20s, he felt terribly vulnerable and inadequate. He surely had his reasons. Jeremiah grew up in a priestly family during the reign of Manasseh, who had murdered many pious men. He was young and untested, unsure of himself as any young person is likely to be. The thought that God viewed him as special, and had a special mission for him, was overwhelming. It’s appropriate when we approach any ministry to share Jeremiah’s emotions. In ourselves we are inadequate, mere children. The person who approaches any spiritual service with an arrogant self-confidence is sure to fail. We need to grasp, as did Jeremiah, that no matter what natural gifts God has given us, we can do nothing in or by ourselves. In this case, however, Jeremiah’s protests indicate more than humility. The future prophet’s objection was rebuked, as if he were using his sense of weakness as an excuse to refuse God’s call. God responded, “You must go.” Yet, even God’s rebuke conveys a promise. Jeremiah was told not to be afraid, “For I am with you and will rescue you.” When God calls any person to a ministry, He commits Himself to be with that individual. God will be with you as you serve Him, despite your weaknesses, and despite any fears you may have. “Over nations and kingdoms” Jer. 1:9–16. These verses provide a preview of the message that Jeremiah would deliver to Judah. It was an unpopular message, for it conveyed God’s intention to bring a powerful new kingdom from the north down on His people and their land. Jeremiah was told that as God’s prophet he was “over” the kingdoms of this world. That is, they would behave as he announced they would. Most often we think of ourselves as subject to the political powers of the nation in which we live. Jeremiah was reminded that real authority belongs to God—and that a person who proclaims the Word of God is greater than any worldly power. Ultimately the world will submit to God’s authority, and will surely do what He has willed. You and I too live in tension between the powers of this world and the Word of God. If we commit ourselves to do God’s will and to live by His Word, we, like Jeremiah, will be “over nations and kingdoms.” “Get yourself ready!” Jer. 1:17–19 Jeremiah was about to set out on a great adventure. He had been called to live not by the values and beliefs of his society, but by God’s Word. And he had been called to proclaim that Word, whatever the cost might be to him personally. Jeremiah now had to prepare himself: he had to make a firm decision, and commit himself to God’s way only. You and I are challenged to make the same commitment. We are not to drift through life, believing in God but living like men and women of the world. We are to take a stand, as Jeremiah did. We are to make a firm decision to live by, and to witness to, the Word of God. Again God’s challenge is accompanied by a promise. A promise that you and I as well as Jeremiah can claim. “Today I have made you a fortified city. . . . They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you” (vv. 18–19).

DEVOTIONAL

The Price of Commitment(Selected passages)

If we glance ahead through the Book of Jeremiah, we learn something of the price that Jeremiah paid because of his complete commitment to God. His message was so unpopular that some men actually conspired to take his life (cf. 11:18–20). Others attempted to neutralize Jeremiah’s influence by slandering him. They said, “Let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says” (18:18). Still others simply ridiculed God’s faithful prophet. This apparently hurt Jeremiah most of all, for he wrote: I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. . . . So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long (20:7–8). Later in his life Jeremiah was imprisoned and his life threatened by Judah’s rulers. He was accused of treason, and considered a national disgrace. None of this was easy for the sensitive prophet. In one passage that captures the despair he often felt, Jeremiah cried out, “Cursed be the day I was born!” And he concluded his cry with this lament: “Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (vv. 14, l8) But Jeremiah did not end his days in shame. His predictions of doom came true, and it was his enemies who were put to shame in the end. Even so, what sustained Jeremiah through the difficult years was not the conviction that he was right, but a deep compassion for those to whom he spoke. Jeremiah warned of judgment—in hope that some would hear, repent, and be saved. “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city,” one of his sermons affirmed. But his hope was that his listeners would “now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster He has pronounced against you” (26:12–13). Yes, if we fully commit ourselves to the Lord there may very well be a price to pay. Yet because God’s Word is true, we will be proven right in the end. And, until then, we will be sustained by the awareness that our faithfulness may be the means of bringing others with us to the Lord.

Personal Application

The rewards of commitment far exceed any cost.

Quotable

“I go out to preach with two propositions in mind. First, everyone ought to give his life to Christ. Second, whether or not anyone gives Him his life, I will give Him mine.”—Jonathan Edwards

Jeremiah

INTRODUCTION

Jeremiah ministered in the four turbulent decades preceding the fall of Jerusalem on March 15–16, 597 B.C. These decades were marked by the sudden collapse of Assyria, and a subsequent power struggle between the emerging Babylonian Empire and a resurgent Egypt. Caught in the middle, tiny Judah vacillated, alternately rebelling and submitting to one, then another of the great powers. Near the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry, Josiah instituted a number of religious reforms. Despite the reformation, Jeremiah warned the nation that soon they would suffer invasion and exile. Boldly Jeremiah confronted Judah with the sins that cried out for divine judgment. But a hardened Judah refused to heed the prophet’s warnings. Jeremiah himself suffered persecution, and was rejected by his fellow countrymen. Yet he lived to see his predictions of disaster fulfilled, and his tormentors silenced. Despite his ministry of condemnation, Jeremiah also conveyed a message of hope. Judah would fall. But God would make a New Covenant with His faithless people. In a coming, though distant, day, Judah’s sins would be forgiven and her people given a new heart. Jeremiah’s powerful presentation of God’s New Covenant promise makes this book bright with hope, despite its repeated theme of judgment.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I.	Jeremiah’s Mission	Jer. 1–10
II.	The Broken Covenant	Jer. 11–20
III.	Judgment at Hand	Jer. 21–29
IV.	New Covenant Promises	Jer. 30–38
V.	Jerusalem Fallen	Jer. 39–51
VI.	Historical Appendix	Jer. 52

April 6
NEAR THE CROSS
Fanny J. Crosby, 1820–1915
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19, 20)
The cross was a superb triumph over Satan, death, and hell. Never was Christ more a king than when He shouted from the cross—“It is finished.” Out of the hideous suffering of Calvary He has carved His victory and His kingdom. The victory of the cross assures us that we no longer need to be kept separate from God—either in this life or for eternity. Even now we can enter into His presence “with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). And the best is yet to come—“the golden strand just beyond the river.”
As God’s people, we should live daily with a sensitive awareness of Christ’s cross. We should review its scenes of suffering as well as revel in its triumph. “Near the Cross,” this simply stated hymn by Fanny Crosby, has been widely used by God to teach people this truth since its first publication in 1869.
As she did with many of her 8,000 hymn texts, Fanny Crosby wrote this poem to fit an existing tune that had been composed by William H. Doane. Although she worked with a number of other gospel musicians, William Doane was Fanny Crosby’s principal collaborator. Doane was a very successful business man in Cincinnati, as well as a composer and publisher of numerous gospel songs. He was a very wealthy man when he died and he left much of his fortune to philanthropic causes, including the construction of the Doane Memorial Music Building at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
Jesus, keep me near the cross—there a precious fountain, free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me; there the Bright and Morning Star sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me; help me walk from day to day with its shadows o’er me.
Near the cross I’ll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever, till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river.
Chorus: In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest, beyond the river.

For Today: John 6:47-51; 19:17, 18; Galatians 6:14; Ephesians 2:13

Determine that especially during this Lenten season you are going to review and revel more often in the cross of Christ and all that it means. Sing this musical prayer to help you remember—

April 5
I GAVE MY LIFE FOR THEE
Frances R. Havergal, 1836–1879
And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
A vivid painting of Christ, wearing His crown of thorns as He stands before Pilate and the mob, is displayed in the art museum of Dusseldorf, Germany. Under the painting by Sternberg are the words, “This have I done for thee; what hast thou done for Me?” When Frances Havergal viewed the painting during a visit to Germany, she was deeply moved. As she gazed at it in tears, she scribbled down the lines of this hymn text on a scrap of paper. After returning to her home in England, she felt the poetry was so poor that she tossed the lines into a stove. The scorched scrap of paper amazingly floated out of the flames and landed on the floor, where it was found by Frances’ father, Rev. William Havergal, an Anglican minister, a noted poet, and a church musician. He encouraged her to preserve the poem by composing the first melody for it. The present tune was composed for this text by the noted American gospel songwriter, Philip P. Bliss, and was first published in 1873.
When Christ cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” victory over sin was won. All that is required of each of us is to personally appropriate that finished work. To show our gratefulness, however, our response should be, “Thank you, Lord, for giving your life for me. Now I want to live for You and serve You till the end of my days.” This was the reaction of Miss Havergal, known as the “consecration poet,” whose entire life was characterized by simple faith and spiritual saintliness. In spite of frail health, she lived an active life until her death at the age of 43. She wrote many beautifully phrased hymn texts, including “Take My Life and Let It Be” and “Like a River Glorious.”
I gave My life for thee; My precious blood I shed that thou might’st ransomed be and quickened form the dead; I gave, I gave My life for thee—what hast thou giv’n for Me?
I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell, of bitt’rest agony to rescue thee from hell; I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee—what hast thou borne for Me?
And I have brought to thee, down from My home above, salvation full and free, my pardon and My love; I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee—what hast thou brought to Me?

For Today: Psalm 116:12-14; John 19:30; Romans 12:1, 2; Galatians 2:20

Allow your soul to respond in a new and fresh dedication to God as you reflect on all that Christ has done for you. Allow these musical questions to motivate your thinking—

April 4
WOUNDED FOR ME
W. G. Ovens, 1870–1945 (verse 1)
Gladys W. Roberts, 1888–? (verses 2-5)
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Death by crucifixion was one of the worst forms of dying. No Roman citizen was ever crucified; this horrible death was reserved only for Rome’s enemies. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture and suffering. It was made of sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted among the sinews so that every time the lash came down upon a body, these pieces of bone inflicted fearful lacerations and literally tore off chunks of flesh from the person’s bones. This is what Christ endured in accomplishing our redemption. But the physical suffering was not the worst. Rather, the weight of human sin and the separation from God the Father because of His wrath against sin were the real causes of the Savior’s death.
But simply knowing about Christ’s suffering and death is not enough. We must personally appropriate this to our own lives. We must say, “It was for me!” We must allow the Holy Spirit to do in us subjectively all that Christ has done for us objectively. Then, after we have experienced this redemptive work in our own lives, we must humbly, lovingly, and thoughtfully “follow in His steps” and seek to restore others.
The five stanzas of this thoughtful hymn cover the whole story of redemption, from the Savior’s suffering to His second coming. When this hymn is sung, then, all of the verses must be used; none can be deleted. Start softly and slowly and gradually build to a thrilling climax—“O how I praise Him—He’s coming for me!”
Wounded for me, wounded for me, there on the cross He was wounded for me; gone my transgressions, and now I am free, all because Jesus was wounded for me.
Dying for me, dying for me, there on the cross He was dying for me; now in His death my redemption I see, all because Jesus was dying for me.
Risen for me, risen for me, up from the grave He has risen for me; now evermore from death’s sting I am free, all because Jesus has risen for me.
Living for me, living for me, up in the skies He is living for me; daily He’s pleading and praying for me, all because Jesus is living for me.
Coming for me, coming for me, one day to earth He is coming for me; then with what joy His dear face I shall see; O how I praise Him—He’s coming for me!

For Today: Psalm 65:3; 103:12; Isaiah 53; Ephesians 2:5

Let your soul rejoice as you review the complete redemption Christ has provided for you. Sing this hymn as you go realizing that He was—